What a Broken POC Taught Me About Data Platform Encapsulation
Lessons learnt from a POC
After a few weeks away from a client environment, I logged back in and attempted to run dbt. It failed immediately. The database schema had changed: columns renamed, others removed entirely.
At first glance, this felt like a delivery failure. In reality, it was a design lesson. The environment was a development space, and I had not fully encapsulated the data required for the proof of concept.
The takeaway was simple but important: even in a POC, assumptions about upstream stability are risky. Encapsulation is not over-engineering; it is a form of risk management that protects learning velocity.